WTF: Work Time Fun

Certain games just appeal to a wide variety of gamers no matter where they come from while some games seem to have some gamers scratching their heads while the other embraces it happily. While dating and horse racing simulators are huge in Japan, most North American gamers would most likely pass on the opportunity to buy them or even want to play them. However, certain games do manage to make an impact in North America such as Katamari Damacy for the PlayStation 2. Now there’s WTF: Work Time Fun, a game that, with the exception of Nintendo’s WarioWare games for a different handheld, is like nothing you’ve ever played on your PSP.

Work Time Fun is actually a work simulator and before you roll your eyes and stop reading this review please know that the “work” in this game is the type that will have you wondering why you can’t put down your PSP. Yes, you will be performing a number of tasks that feel like work and there’s a less than generous paycheck waiting for you at the end but a few of the tasks that you’ll be performing just make this a genuinely bizarre yet fun experience.

The game begins with only four tasks or mini-games and the money you earn by playing each one can be used to unlock more mini-games as well as purchase trinkets (more on that later). First, of course, you must fill out the required personal information about yourself including your blood type, date of birth as well as your own personal message. From there you can get right to work performing such tasks as counting human pedestrians (it’s not as easy as it sounds because the game tosses in strange walking creatures) or a baseball mini-game where you attempt to catch the ball in the middle of the pitcher’s mound. Another game is inspired by Frogger, having you lead a man across traffic in order to reach the open arms of his lover.

What to do with your wages, you might ask? Well the game includes four vending machines used to unlock more mini-games (or part-time jobs if you will) as well as some seemingly unnecessary trinkets you would find in an actual vending machine you’d find at supermarkets. It is here that you unlock random mini-games such as the Lumberjack mini-game that has you splitting logs as fast as you can without chopping a poor little woodland animal in half. Another mini-game has you racing down a hill against an opponent as you try to stop before you race off the cliff. Oh, did I mention you could also sort baby chicks? You’ll be in charge of separating the male and female chicks with the dead ones that go into a basket headed for Heaven. Another mini-game has you attempting to bounce a soccer ball as much as you can while another mini-game allows you to relive a scene from the movie Aliens in where you attempt to avoid impaling somebody’s fingers with a sharp blade.

Some mini-games have been inspired by old NES games like baseball mini-game I first mentioned as well as a wrestling mini-game. Not that I mind the obvious copyright infringement and the following lawsuits these mini-games would inspire because, let’s face it, those games were fun back then and still fun now. Aside from the mini-games, you will get to unlock some unusual surprises in the form of “tools.” One tool, for example, features a sort of calculator that is good at splitting a restaurant bill if you happen to dine out with a group. Hilariously enough another tool turns your PSP into a lamp to guide you in the dark while the last tool features a pair of creepy eyes so you can lift the PSP to your face with the screen facing everyone else it appears as if you were looking at them with big bug eyes. I know, it’s quirky but this is a game that encourages you to play with chopsticks.

Graphically speaking, the various mini-games do sport their own unique look so it’s difficult to say that this game will dazzle you with sparkling graphics. Many of the mini-games will transport you back to the old NES days with the baseball mini-game or the Lunar Landing-inspired mini-game. Really, the best stuff comes in the form of photo-real mini-games that displays two men in safari outfits, a few hands in another two mini-games and a cat just to name a few of the more weird but good-looking mini-games.

The sound is equally weird, offering up some quirky musical bits played throughout the game as well as some interesting sound effects. Whether you’re chopping wood or accidentally chop a bunny in half the sound effects are detailed and strange. There is very little in terms of voice acting, unless you count the guy in the menu screen but other then that there’s plenty of audible weirdness to be heard throughout the game.

Wildly insane and wonderfully unique, WTF: Work Time Fun is an acquired taste that might not suit everyone’s palette but if you are looking for something very Japanese or are willing to be deeply entertained, this game will not disappoint. Really, what can you say about a game that lets you put caps on pens in an assembly line or count pedestrians crossing the street? It’s absolutely nutty but then again that’s the charm of a game that tries to be different and succeeds. 

Gameplay: 8.0
The forty mini-games you’ll encounter gets more insane with every game you unlock while some of them are a bit on the droll side like the baseball challenge. Then again sorting baby chicks has never been this surprisingly fun.

Graphics: 8.0
A game as strange as this one is bound to look strange as well and while the majority of the game looks appropriately wacky it’s the photo-real mini-games that really stand out nicely. Add some great visual effects and we have a visually interesting game.

Sound: 8.0
Ok, not only does the game feel and look strange but the game’s oddball sound effects and strange soundtrack make for an interesting audio experience as well. From the very moment the game’s start screen pops up with some crazy guy screaming “Work time fun!” you know you’re in for something different.

Difficulty: Medium/Hard
Earning a paycheck isn’t easy and even more so in Work Time Fun where the game starts you off on an easy level and gets progressively harder very quickly. Try counting people when all kinds of unusual walking creatures zip past you at a much quicker pace.

Concept: 7.5
The Nintendo DS and GBA have its WarioWare games so it’s great to see that the Sony PSP get something slightly similar. Unfortunately, forty mini-games just isn’t enough but what is here makes for a good time nonetheless. The vending machines have a large number of prizes including a collection of baffling Tools (actually, the Restaurant Bill Splitter does come in handy).

Multiplayer: 8.0
You can exchange trinkets with up to seven friends or “hire” them on to play against you in any of the mini-games available in the Hell Cantina. Work Time Fun even had a Game Share feature that allows a friend to download one or two mini-games for them to try out.

Overall: 7.9
It’s hard to recommend a game like Work Time Fun but for those willing to give it a try they will find that there’s a lot to like about this offbeat title. Like Me & My Katamari, Japanese games might seem bizarre but trust me when I say that missing out on them or this game would be a real shame. Now if I can only get a job sorting out baby chicks I’ll be set.